Brother, Where Art Thou?
by lordtrayus
Summary: Five years after Yggdrasil was defeated, the Data Squad has moved on with its life. But, Keenan has now vanished and a secret DATS facility has activated, but are they signs of something more? War is brewing in the digital world, as an enemy of Marcus prepares to destroy all he holds dear and soon a war will rage for both worlds, with Marcus and Keenan right in the middle!
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I do not own Digimon**

Brother Where Art Thou?

Five years had passed since the two worlds, the real and the digital, had been saved. The rift between them had been repaired, Yggdrasil defeated, the Royal Knights had stood down and Kurata was dead. Following the end of the crisis and the disbanding of DATS, the various team members had all moved on with their lives.

Yoshi had joined the police, and was now working alongside Miki, Megumi and Commander Sampson. Although they no longer had their partner Digimon, they were still a very good team, working together to enforce law throughout the city.

Thomas had also moved on, becoming a doctor, curing his sister Relena's illness and earning himself the Nobel Prize. He had now set up a practice in the city, near all the others, and still saw them all quite regularly. He also frequently had their former leader, Yoshima, over quite frequently, as the older man had now retired and spent his days fishing.

However, the other two members of the DATS team were not quite so well adjusted. Well, Marcus was, but he was no longer in the real world. Unwilling to be parted with Agumon he had set off for the digital world, to keep the peace there since any powerful leader of the Digimon, like Merukimon and SaberLeomon had been killed by Kurata's evil. It had been five years since his family or his friends had seen them, and though they all tried to deny or hide it, they were still quite worried about the guy who's pig headed stubbornness had basically saved the world. The other member of the team who was not so well adapted was Keenan. The boy, who had been living wild in the digital world due to an accident that had landed him there, had lost his surrogate mother Frigimon and had developed a strong hatred for humans. However, five years ago he had met the DATS team, and Marcus had shown him that not all humans were evil, inviting him home and becoming a big brother, who looked out for him and taught him while helping him remember his true human family. He had been the first person to truly enjoy Keenan's presence, the one who had looked after him and cared for him, despite their less than friendly first encounter.

And how Keenan wished Marcus was here now.

Although he had largely adjusted to the real world, he still had a few falls on his speaking, but other than that he was mostly fine, and lived with his original birth parents. He had shed his face paint and his braid and now attended Marcus' sister Kristy's school. He had a family. Or so he thought.

Keenan had fled to the glade where Marcus had first stood up for him, yelling at his father who had originally wanted the others to take Keenan away in case it upset his wife. Climbing up a tree, Keenan sat and glowered out at the world, fighting back the clogging tears at the back of his throat, which were threatening to spill down his face.

He didn't know why he was so surprised. After all, humons were all the same. Only Marcus, his family and his friends weren't. But none of them were nearby, and Marcus was long gone, just like Falcomon. And Keenan was alone. He sniffed. He didn't need anyone else, least of all his family. He heard them dimly, shouting, calling his name, but he ignored them. Why should he listen to them?

He sat and kicked at the air angrily. He thought he had a place here. He thought he had a family. For so long, after Frigimon had died, his only family had been Falcomon, and to an extent Merukimon. But then he had met Marcus and the others, Marcus had taken him in, and he'd thought he had a family too. And with his encouragement, he had steadily thawed to the family he had never known, wanting to be part of their family again, trying to forget the loss of Falcomon, Marcus' absence, the deaths of so many Digimon and the fact that he was in some ways responsible for it all. He had been happy, part of a family, with friends, all of whom cared about him.

Or so he had thought, until about an hour ago.

Keenan dropped down from the tree, ignoring the yells of his so called father. They were just as bad as all the other humons. Not as bad as Kurata, certainly, but they were all just as bad as each other. Keenan sniffed, feeling his heart pang. He'd been stupid to let his guard down, to get close to them. He should have known he would only get hurt in the end. He didn't expect it to hurt as badly as this, he hadn't felt like this since Thomas had appeared to have betrayed them all to work with Kurata. Betrayal stank, family didn't matter, and he was alone. That was all he had learnt from the human world. It would be better off without him around.

So, ignoring the desperate cries of his so called mother and father, Keenan, making sure his digivice was around his neck, turned and disappeared into the trees, ignoring the cries of his parents and the ominous darkening of the sky as he did so.

XX

A week later, Sampson and the other's office in the police station had been turned into a command centre from where the search to find Keenan was being directed. After Keenan hadn't come home, his parents had called Sampson, asking him to find their son, and ever since then, virtually the entire DATS team had been assembled to try and find the kid. While Yoshi, Miki, Megumi and Sampson chased down leads and possible sightings, Thomas went around the town with Kristy and Yoshima to try and find the kid, but he was nowhere to be found, and every day they didn't find him, their worry grew. Yeah, he was fifteen, but the city was still a dangerous place for fifteen year old kids, even ones who could take care of themselves like Keenan could. None of them liked the idea of him being out there all alone, especially without a Digimon to protect him in the city, and the clock was ticking for them to find him before something bad happened to him.

However, it was now the eighth day of the search and none of them were any the wiser as to where the hell Keenan could have gotten to.

"We've checked all the places we like to hang out, stores, malls, cinemas, we haven't seen any sign of him." Kristy said sadly, while her mother stood worriedly by her side, just as concerned for Keenan as the others were.

"We've gone through hours of CCTV footage and not seen a sign of him. Kristy, have you got any idea as to any other place he might have gone?" Yoshi asked, but the younger girl shook her head.

"Like I said, we checked everywhere." She said sadly.

"Spencer and I even went up to the mountain where you defeated Yggdrasil to see if he was there, we didn't see anything." Sarah admitted, her eyes narrowed as she surveyed the room.

There were several people conspicuous by their absence. Her son for one, as he was in the digital world. Out of everyone here, he was probably the one who cared about Keenan the most, and yet because of his rash (at least she thought so) decision to go to the digital world with Agumon, he wasn't present. And what was more, she wished he was here. She smiled slightly as she thought of her son. If he knew Keenan had gone missing and he was here, then nothing would stop him until he tracked down the kid he had adopted as a baby brother and brought him home.

However, there was another absence that she found most curious. The Criers themselves weren't actually here. She knew they were going through a tough time, and they had Keenan's sister to look after, but still, the lack of any of the rest of his family she still found quite curious.

Thomas, sitting on the edge of a table and dressed in a loose black tshirt and black jeans, frowned.

"Alright. This is Keenan we're talking about. It stands to reason that if he was hurt by something at home, he would try and find some link to the other place he viewed as home, some form of comfort." He reasoned, and Sampson nodded.

"I thought much the same thing, I even investigated DATS but there hasn't been anyone there in years, I would see footprints in the dust. Wherever he is, he isn't there." He said grimly, sitting at his desk, his eyes hidden by his sunglasses as always.

Yoshi frowned.

"I thought he might have gone to yours Mrs Damon, after all, he's Kristy's best friend." She said, but Sarah shook her head.

"We haven't seen him Yoshi. I thought he might turn up too, which is why I told Spencer to stay at home, but we haven't seen any sign of him." She said worriedly.

"We will find him won't we mom?" Kristy asked worriedly, and her mother gave her a reassuring smile and nodded.

"Of course we will." She said soothingly.

"But we're running out of time to do so." Yoshima said, earning him a glare from Sarah and Thomas.

"What does he mean?" Kristy asked anxiously, and Yoshima looked worriedly at the others then took a reluctant sigh.

"What I mean Kristy is that the longer he's gone the less chance we have of finding him. There's a lot out there that could easily endanger a young fifteen year old boy." He said hesitantly, and Kristy's eyes widened in alarm.

"Mom..." she said anxiously.

"We'll find him before anything happens to him, Kristy, I promise." Thomas assured her gently, running his hands through his hair tiredly.

"So how do we go about finding him?" Miki asked worriedly, and Sampson frowned.

"If Keenan ran away, to me it would seem like there would be three places he would go to. The first is the digital world. After all he was brought up there, it makes sense that he would try and go to his other home if something bad happened here. The second is that he would go to wherever Falcomon is. Falcomon is his partner, and has been with Keenan virtually all his life. If he was having trouble, Keenan would most likely to go to someone he can trust, his oldest friend would be a natural choice. The only other option I can think of is that he would go to Marcus. After all, Marcus is the first one who cared about him in this world, who took him in and looked after him even when his parents didn't want him. He sees Marcus as a big brother, so it would also be feasible that he would go to him if he were upset too." He mused.

"But that still doesn't answer the question of how we would get to any of them. Considering none of us have seen him, and you reckon he hasn't been into DATS, how would he get there or even contact Marcus or Falcomon?" Thomas asked, and Sampson shrugged.

"I don't know. And as I said, I don't think he has found a way to contact Marcus. No, wherever Keenan is, we can't find him by conventional means." He said, and Sarah looked at him in alarm.

"So we just give up?" she demanded, and he shook his head.

"No, but I think it's time we consult an ally on where we might find Keenan. If you'll all follow me." He said mysteriously, and with a knowing wink from Yoshima, the others followed him from the room, the Criers once more conspicuous by their absence.

XX

"What is this place? I didn't even know we had a basement." Yoshi said in astonishment, and Sampson smiled.

"No one was meant to know until it was ready. I was going to call you in to see if it worked, but now we'll need to give it a live field test, it might help us find Keenan." He said, entering a code and making a door slide open.

And they walked in to what was basically an exact replica of the control room at DATS.

"What the?" Yoshi demanded, and Sampson smiled grimly.

"Homer and I felt it would be best to move our headquarters here. Now that there is no official need for DATS, we obviously can't keep the DATS building, I think they're going to turn it into a shopping centre, but that doesn't mean we might not need something like DATS one day in the future, so I had the basement converted with everything we might need. We have temporary quarters, all the information we've assembled and all the technology, all we need now is a crew and a reason. Miki, Megumi, assume your positions." Sampson said, taking his customary seat behind the large desk at the back of the room.

Miki and Megumi gave each other delighted looks and headed to their usual stations on either side of the walkway that led to the digital dive. Yoshi looked at Thomas, who seemed just as surprised as she was, which was rather surprising for the young genius.

"Did you have any idea about this?" she asked him, and he shook his head.

"Not a clue. But realistically it makes sense to have a back up. After all, we don't know how long the barrier might stay intact between the two worlds, and Hashima for one will look bad if a Digimon gets through and we can't stop it because we don't have the facilities anymore. So commander, what do you plan to use this place for, how will it help us find Keenan?" he asked, and Sampson gave a small satisfied smile.

"For a start, check everything works the way its meant to, and after that, see if we can establish any form of contact with the digital world. Miki, Megumi, is everything in working order?"

"Yes commander, all systems are go at one hundred percent, establishing link with the digital world now, digital dive is coming online. Orders?" Megumi asked, and Sampson looked to Yoshima, who nodded slightly.

"Scan the area, see if we can see anything, may as well put this place through its paces first before we do anything. Hashima allowed us to set this up under the proviso that we wouldn't use it for anything but a digital incursion, but as its been offline for so long there's no telling what we might have missed. And he will feel safer knowing it works. Think of this place as a last resort bunker, like where you hid when you were on the run from Kurata after you returned from the digital world." Yoshima advised as Miki and Megumi typed away at their terminals as if they had never left.

"You really think Keenan might be in the digital world?" Sarah asked nervously, and Sampson frowned.

"I don't know Sarah. But if he's anywhere, he'll be where he feels safe, or be with someone he feels safe with, and as we're drawing blanks in this world, I would rather assume he's somehow made it to the digital world." He said grimly.

"With Marcus." Sarah said, slightly hopeful of the chance to see or hear from her son for the first time in five years.

"But if he did make it to the digital world, even if he was found by Marcus..." Yoshi said nervously.

"There's still the question of how he got there. I know. But if he is there, then we can see Gaomon and the others." Thomas said wistfully, and Kristy nodded beside him.

"And Marcus." She added, and Thomas and Yoshi smiled slightly.

"Yeah. Keenan, the Digimon and Marcus." Yoshi admitted and Thomas looked away to hide his grin, not wanting to admit he missed Marcus nearly as much as he missed Gaomon.

As the others got back into the swing of things, Sarah frowned as she considered the Keenan situation. The boy hadn't been seen in over a week and had apparently upped and left home without a word to any of them. And, curiously, no one had seen the Criers since they had reported Keenan missing. She understood that they were going through a difficult time, and Keenan had vanished seemingly without a trace, but she couldn't shake the feeling that there was more going on here than met the eye. Frowning, she watched the others as they got to work, trying to find out if anything was going on in the digital world as if they had never been away from DATS, and while she watched, she was silently praying that Keenan was alright. Squeezing Kristy's shoulder to reassure her daughter, she watched as they typed away, hoping that wherever Keenan was, he was safe. After all, she was used to wishing her boys were safe wherever they were.

Because Keenan had become hers. Yeah he lived with his own family, but she still remembered the blazing expression on Marcus' face when he had first shown up with this strange child who they had found in the digital world, who's mother had been a giant snowy teddy bear, the boy who's father had originally not wanted home in case it upset his wife. She had remembered fury pumping through her when Marcus had told her, and had taken Keenan in, watching as he bonded with Kristy, as he started to worship Marcus as an older brother, and remember helping him when Marcus had left, cheering him up and letting him know he wasn't alone. Keenan was as much her son now as Marcus was. And just her luck, both of them were missing.

"Please be safe, wherever you boys are." She whispered, and Yoshima nodded stoutly to her, as if to let her know everything would be alright, and she wished she could believe it.

XX

The fortress was large and foreboding, surrounded by constantly patrolled walls and well armed, discouraging any military approach. Within the confines of the wall though, the people were dedicated to their lord and master, one of the Olympus Twelve, the one who had brought all of them together, all forming a large army.

Following the genocidal attacks of Kurata upon the digital world, the various leaders of the digital world, the Royal Knights, the Olympus Twelve, and the Four Dragons had all assembled for a conference. Yggdrasil, king of the digital world, had then made a proclamation, that the human world was to be left alone to its own devices, and provided they didn't attack the Digimon, they would no longer attack the human world.

That decision had been less than popular. While the Royal Knights would do whatever the king said (provisionally now it seemed since his mania had nearly destroyed both worlds), many of the others were not quite so lenient. While the Royal Knights had sustained losses during the war with the real world, such as Leopardmon, for the most part they would be retured eventually as their Digi-eggs had returned to the digital world for them to be reborn. However, while the Royal Knights, isolated and haughty as they were, had been fairly unaffected in terms of loss, the other two groups had lost members, friends and family all.

The Four Great Dragons, who controlled the four points of the Digital world and also controlled significant portions of territory throughout the world were revered as local deities and gods, who were sought out for their wisdom, known for their power, and respected for their authority. The four of them had a section of the digital world, a point of the map each, the north, south, east and west, and while others had territory even within those areas, everyone knew that the skies and a large portion of the territory belonged to these great yet terrible dragons. Kurata however hadn't cared. Attacking each of their sky palaces simultaneously (probably after a Digimon of some description had spilled their guts to him as he shouldn't have known about the dragons otherwise), the four dragons had put up a good fight. Megidramon, the North Dragon, had viciously repelled the Gizumon, destroying them all, and though his army took heavy losses, he had held his palace and ensured his safety. Magnadramon, the South Dragon, had opted to retreat, fleeing to ground level and allying with several members of the Olympus Twelve, and with their combined strength the great pink dragon had forced back the enemies attacking the domain of her and her allies. The Dragon of the West, Goldramon, had simply barricaded himself, and using his powers had hidden the palace from view, only destroying the Gizumon when they entered his shield, and unable to mount a proper attack, Kurata's forces had had no choice but to retreat. However, Azulongmon, the East Dragon, hadn't been so lucky. His palace had been completely assaulted, overrun within minutes, and surrounded by Gizumon-XT, he had been swarmed and overrun himself, and Kurata, laughing mercilessly as he watched safely from afar, had ordered his minions to obliterate Azulongmon, and the great dragon didn't even manage to scream before he was gone forever.

The three remaining dragons were furious, as were many other Digimon. They were attacking the very core of Digital belief, society and infrastructure by attacking one of the dragons, and those human monsters killed Azulongmon mercilessly. Megidramon had easily convinced Goldramon to join him and was about to launch a scarring attack on the human world when the war had come to an end. Megidramon had been furious, he wanted revenge for Azulongmon, as did the other two. Goldramon was just as angry, and was sceptical of human intentions, and so it had fallen to Magnadramon to make the peace, and before Yggdrasil, she had vowed that her kin would not attack the human world unless they were attacked first, and bitterly, Megidramon and Goldramon had stood down, reluctantly following her wishes, knowing if they didn't, Yggdrasil would kill her. And so, despite wanting revenge, the three dragons had retreated, splitting Azulongmon's territory between Megidramon and Magnadramon, while they both gave some of their original territory to Goldramon so that they were all equal again. And over time, the dragons calmed and were soothed, Magnadramon keeping them in line while they mourned Azulongmon and so life went on.

However, while the dragons did calm themselves, the Olympus Twelve were not quite so lenient. Before the war had begun, the digital world was split into twelve realms, with one of them acting as a commander of each, subservient only to the king, his knights and the dragons. Each had led their people well, having regional leaders report to them, and all had been well. Or it had been until the first cowardly human attack, which had taken the lives of four of their number. However, as they had not known much about humanity at the time, they didn't know what had truly happened, and it wasn't until the war that they truly understood that a human had been responsible. But, in the intervening time, the Olympus Eight had moved on with their lives, not dividing the territories they had lost as the dragons had, instead allowing others to take command, such as SaberLeomon and ClavisAngemon. And then the war had begun, the genocide came again and the butcher Kurata had tried to destroy the digital world and this time it was once again the Olympians who took the damage. The first loss had been that of Merukimon, ambushed by the Gizumon that he hadn't thought to see again. He had done his part, defending the so called 'good' humans from the evil Kurata, including the boy he had come to see as his own cub, and it had cost him his life. Merukimon had been one of the strongest of the remaining Olympians and chaos had followed, especially as Kurata continued his purge of their world. And once again it was the Olympians he had targeted.

Vulcanusmon, who was generally quite content to leave everyone to their own devices, had fallen during the war, his entire army lost trying to save him, trying to stop the Gizumon from entering his volcano home. The war forge destroyed, hundreds of Digimon dead, if not thousands, and Vulcanusmon himself dead had struck an enormous blow to the digital war effort, and to the Olympians themselves.

However, while the loss of Vulcanusmon at least made sense from a military point of view, the next loss made no sense whatsoever. Minervamon commanded a realm built on knowledge and science, seeking enlightenment. Her people were not warlike and wished only to read and study, and Kurata had attacked them anyway, her great realm of learning was put to torch, her books and scrolls destroyed, and she herself was killed while trying to protect the ancient secrets of the digital world, which Kurata had then destroyed too.

As a result of these losses on top of the ones they had already lost, the remaining Olympians had been furious, and all of them bar Venusmon had been crying out for blood and wanted nothing more than to make humanity pay. However, then the war had ended, Yggdrasil had given his marching orders and had expected them all to stand down. The Olympians had been very reluctant to do so, but, with even the world's oceans devastated by the war with Kurata, Neptunmon eventually realised he has bigger fish to fry (quite literally in his case) and had retreated to his underwater kingdom in order to rebuild his part of the world. Venusmon, while angry and devastated at their losses, being who she was, had no desire to fight and had retired to her coastal region to live out her days in peace.

The others were not so easily dismissed. Dianamon did return to her region, making an ally out of various locales around her and acting as their nominal leader, becoming the first among equals and acting as the local areas figurehead. However, she was not afraid to fight for what she believed in, and while she had been sated and didn't wish to attack the human world anymore, she was still angry and would fight if pushed. However as it stood she was quite content to protect her borders and those of her allies, and while she wouldn't admit it, it was quite clear that despite wanting revenge against humanity, she didn't want a war anymore than the rest of her world did.

However, the last two remaining Olympians were clearly a lot angrier and more bloodthirsty than she was. Apollomon had refused to stand down. Furious at the deaths of his brothers and sisters, he had rallied an army and had been about to launch an attack on the human world in order to exact bloody vengeance. With a large army, he had been about to blow open a hole in the barrier between the worlds when he had been discovered, and in the resulting battle, Apollomon had been destroyed, his army scattered and his grand offensive scuppered.

Which meant that Marsmon was now the last one standing.

A large, burly Digimon, with the head of a white panther, with two sharp fangs and a large horn appearing from his head, he was well built, flame roiling around his fists, a cape surrounding his muscular body. And he was now the last of the fighting Olympus Twelve.

Marsmon, like Apollomon, had wanted revenge on the humans, but had been unable to do so. Rushing in was fool hardy. Yes, he liked to fight, loved it actually. But he also knew how to fight, which had been the crucial difference between he and Apollomon. He had counselled Apollomon to wait, to build his forces more, to wait for Marsmon to finish building his own army before he attacked, but his brother would not be dissuaded, and had attacked prematurely. Apollomon had been discovered and had been stopped, killed and Marsmon had been the one to pick up the pieces.

It was four years ago now. Apollomon's army was large, nearly as large as Crusadermon's personal Knightmon army, and due to the large amount of fire and energy Digimon within the army it would certainly lay the real world to waste. Apollomon had asked Marsmon to get his own army, which was large enough at the best of times, to reinforce them, to come with them in their attack on the real world, but Marsmon had declined, his army was not yet ready, it hadn't been trained enough and was not large enough to ensure victory, and so he had preached patience. Apollomon was not to be dissuaded however and had left to take control of his army, leaving Marsmon at his fortress to build up his forces once again. And then a few days later, the news had broken. Apollomon's army had been attacked, its forces scattered, and Apollomon himself had been destroyed. Marsmon had been furious to learn that another of the twelve had been destroyed (albeit reversibly but it would take years for Apollomon to get back to his former level of power), and had vowed revenge. Offering his fortress as a haven for the remainder of Apollomon's troops, the defeated army of Apollomon had limped to his fortress to find protection there, while Marsmon spent the rest of the time finding out just what had happened on the battlefield.

A human, a human boy had come to the digital world, with the rest of those pathetic Digimon who thought they were friends with the humans, the ones who proclaimed themselves to be trying to save the digital world. He had moved into Merukimon's old base, and with the knowledge and power collected there, he had soon rallied what remained of Merukimon's old army, earning their loyalty. With his fighting skills and the counsel of the pathetic Digimon he had brought with him, the boy had grown into a powerful, confident young warlord. And what was more, the people liked him, people who completely forgot what humans had been doing, what they had done, the Digimon they had killed. Yet as he got stronger and attracted more and more followers, forging him into a great power here in the central belt of the digital world, he became a much more potent threat. More and more Digimon flocked to his cause, allowing him to make progress in leaps and bounds. And now, four years later, it was this boy who still occupied Marsmon's thoughts.

Marcus Damon, the boy from another world, who had come apparently to help rebuild the digital world. Coming here with his whining pet Agumon, the boy had taken over Merukimon's territory, and had soon taken over SaberLeomon's as well. Along with that, under the guidance of Digimon such as Kudamon and Gaomon, he had made allies of the surrounding areas, and had even recruited several smaller territories into his own, so much so that Marcus' territory was only slightly smaller than that of Marsmon, and becoming a much more popular power than he was among his nearest allies, such as Neptunmon and Venusmon (though he suspected she only liked him because she thought he was attractive). Dianamon had even signed a treaty with him, one of mutual aid and respect, promising defence and help should it come to it, and other than Dianamon herself, all of the nearest kingdoms all looked to this young human as a leader, a natural general and many argued that without his help this region would still be consumed by war.

But Marsmon knew the truth. If nothing else Marcus was a human, one of the same murderers that had slaughtered so many of their kin during each genocide and during the war. And it was he who had killed Apollomon. Finding out his world was marked for destruction by Apollomon, he had led his small army at the time into battle against a vastly numerically superior foe. Marsmon had been furious when he had found out, once Apollomon saw him coming he would have attacked, believing that he could easily defeat this small army. And it was then that the boy had revealed his true colours. The human whelp had had his forces attack, and citing the treaty he had made, he had forced Dianamon and several more of his allies to mount troops against Apollomon's attack force. Apollomon for all his skill, power and courage, was sadly only a mediocre warrior, and would never have guessed that the boy was leading him into a trap. By forcing him into a battle of his choosing, Marcus blinded Apollomon to all other threats, allowing his allies to come out and catch Apollomon's army unawares, leading to the massive devastation of his forces. And it was Marcus and his pet Agumon who had killed Apollomon. From the reports of the SkullMeramon who had acted as Apollomon's general, the boy had had the cheek to physically strike Apollomon, and then his partner had digivolved to ShineGreymon and had destroyed him.

And now, a filthy human was one of the most powerful warlords of the digital world, had rebuilt his entire area, had set up a great many powerful alliances with neighbouring kingdoms, and even had the respect of his people, all of whom were forgetting that he was one of the blasted humans who had been involved in the genocide, and on top of that, he was the killer of Apollomon and had driven King Yggdrasil to distraction. The people couldn't see just what they were dealing with, but Marsmon could. He was a human, an arrogant, war mongering human, an architect of genocide, a liar, a charismatic manipulator and a false idol. He was one of the multitude of humans who had stood by and allowed their world to fall, who had watched countless Digimon die, and he would do so again. And he was now in the digital world, turning Digimon against themselves, and what was worse, he had killed Apollomon, and Marsmon knew he would never be sated, he wanted to rule this world and he would not stop until he was sated. But Marsmon wasn't going to allow that to happen.

For the last four years, he had been watching and waiting, preparing for this moment. Marcus Damon was like all other humans, a threat. And he was also a more personal threat, at least to Marsmon. Over his years of studying him, he had learned that he and Marcus were alike in many ways. Both of them enjoyed fighting, they were both strong, stubborn, opinionated. Both of them had lost things during the war, both of them had fought, even if it was for opposing sides. Marsmon had learned that Marcus had foolishly challenged Craniamon and had even managed to defeat him, a feat he had also managed, though he suspected his match with Craniamon was a lot more friendly than Marcus' had been. No, this boy had to go. For in Marcus, Marsmon saw himself. This boy, the one who had killed Apollomon, had been involved with Merukimon's death, this arrogant human who had come to their world and proclaimed himself a warlord, and had the gall to take territory that by all right sought to have belonged to him, he was the reflection of Marsmon.

And he couldn't let such a thing stand.

He had been waiting these years, and now it was time to move. He had all he needed, his forces had been gathered, his allies summoned, and the boy was stuck in his dungeons. Marcus wouldn't know what had hit him.

Marsmon smiled, baring his fangs.

Time to make war.

XX

"Sir, I believe we've located a digivice!" Miki called, and she brought up the image, not that it told them much.

"Where is it?" Sampson asked gravely, wondering if they had detected Marcus or Keenan, at this stage he was willing to take either of them.

"According to my calculations, it's in...it's in what used to be Merukimon's territory." Megumi responded, and Sampson frowned, and Yoshima sent him a significant look.

"There's no telling what might have become of that area since then, we can't head in there, especially not without any Digimon." He said warningly, and Sampson frowned.

"I know you're right, but what else can we do? We need to find Keenan, and it would also be nice to find Marcus as well. We need information. And if Keenan really has gone to the digital world, we need to know how he did so and how we can seal up the barrier again." Sampson argued, and Yoshima had to admit that he had a point.

"Megumi, is there any sign that a digital gate has opened?" Sampson asked, and she shook her head.

"None, but that doesn't mean a gate wasn't open, after all, if this thing only just came online it would have missed any digital fields from a week ago. We'll keep scanning." She said, and Yoshi looked determinedly at the commander.

"Commander, if Keenan is in the digital world, he might need help, we should go and get him." She said, and he and Yoshima both nodded.

"We couldn't agree more. Miki, have you had any luck figuring out who the digivice belongs to?" Sampson asked and she shook her head.

"None sir." She responded, and he frowned.

"I don't like sending anyone into danger, and without your Digimon you would be defenceless." He said grimly, and Thomas looked at him in surprise.

"Wait a second, you're actually sending us to the digital world?" he asked, and Yoshima nodded.

"Yes Thomas. I'm afraid we don't have much of a choice. While the police would ordinarily be suspecting the worst by now, we know slightly more than they do, especially when it comes to Keenan. And besides, we need to find out what's going on in the digital world, and test the digital dive to see if it works the way we expect it to. This seems as good a time as any. Are you not up for it?" Yoshima asked with a small smile, and Thomas glowered.

"I'm going." He said sternly, and Yoshi nodded.

"Yeah, I will too." She said, and Sampson raised his hand before Miki and Megumi finished turning around in their chairs.

"I know girls, we would all like to go. But, it would make more sense to get an idea of what is going on on the ground first, and if possible, rendezvous with Marcus. We're all concerned about Keenan, and if he is there, we will find him. But for now, only Thomas and Yoshi should go. Too many would attract attention that we could do with avoiding, and remember, many Digimon will still remember everything Kurata did and might not appreciate the arrival of more humans. So, Thomas, Yoshi, use the digital dive, we will get you as close to the position we picked up the digivice as we can. Ascertain the situation on the ground and report back, take your digivices. I assume you have them with you?" Sampson asked and both of them revealed them, having carried them around for the last five years out of habit, and an unconscious desire to have their partners back.

"We'll find them commander." Thomas said, saluting him.

"We know you will Thomas. Now, this is strictly reconnaissance, we don't even know if it's search and rescue yet. So, keep your wits about you and take youir earpieces so we can stay in contact." Sampson ordered and, barely able to contain their delight, Thomas and Yoshi headed for the dive.

"Thomas, Yoshi, if you find them, send them home." Sarah asked softly, and Thomas nodded.

"We will Sarah." Thomas vowed, not noticing Kristy sending him an anxious look, or giving a shifty look to her mother.

"Digital dive coming online, initialising." Miki said, and Yoshi looked at them all.

"What about our Digimon?" she asked, and Miki and Megumi looked at her with wide eyes.

"If you see them, tell them we miss them of course." Miki said irritably, after all, it was fairly obvious.

"You two might be able to meet up with Gaomon and Lalamon, make the most of it."

"Digital dive active, transport in five," Miki began, and Kristy looked up at all the adults in the room and saw their eyes were all focused on the dive.

"Four," Yoshi noticed Kristy's shifty behaviour and got slightly worried, she wasn't normally like this, what was she up to, she had the same look Marcus got before he did something incredibly brave or incredibly stupid, or as was usual with him, both.

"Three." Megumi continued, as Kristy shrugged off the hand her mother had placed on her shoulder.

"Two." Miki said, oblivious, as Kristy leapt, and Sarah's eyes widened in alarm.

"Kristy, no!" she yelled and the others all looked at the girl in surprise as she leapt towards the dive.

"One!" Megumi cried in alarm, trying to stop it, watching as Thomas tried to intercept Kristy and force her back, but he mistimed it and she crashed into him, sending him crashing into Yoshi, and with three cries of alarm from within the dive, there was a flash and they were gone, leaving the astounded others behind.

**Hello there! **

**I fancied a departure from my traditional Adventure stories and ive thought up this little Savers story just for a change. Now, I know a lot doesnt happen in this first chapter, it's mainly scene setting, but things do start to heat up rather fast since the team, plus Kristy, is on their way to the digital world.  
**

**Just what happened with Keenan? Where is he? Where is Marcus? Who's digivice did the girls pick up? And just why is there a DATS secret base stashed under the police station? Last resort, or is there something more?  
**

**And Marsmon is looking for war with Marcus, one of the Olympus Twelve, so just what does that hold?  
**

**So, hope you like the first chapter, the story will start to heat up soon believe me as Marsmon is very literally on the warpath, and next time we find Marcus (am i the only one who thinks he's the best looking digidestined/tamer? i didnt think anyone would beat matt but he knocked him off his perch), so just what does the future hold?  
**

**Please read, let me know what you think, and review! Until later!  
**


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I do not own Digimon (or the PSP game would be in english and on ds)**

Brother, Where Art Thou?

"Scouter Monoeye!"

"Pummel Peck!"

"Thunder Ray!"

The Drimogemon that was currently running up and down a bust London street and causing all sorts of havoc came to a stop as the three Digimon fired their attacks at them. The drill nosed Digimon turned to see the three Digimon bearing down on him, their human partners right behind them.

The one who came slightly to the fire was clearly the leader of the group. Fit and muscular, he was clad in a black army uniform, his sandy blond hair spiked up at the front, his eyes blue and hard as they observed Drimogemon. Sealsdramon, an armour bound dinosaur Digimon landed in front of him, prepared to fight if need be.

The guy standing to his right was around the same age, at the start of their twenties. Tall with a rather regal bearing, he was dressed in a dark blue tshirt and a leather jacket with a white scarf wrapped around his neck. His hair was black and wavy, hanging easily about his face, sheltering his striking green eyes. Yanmamon, the large dragonfly looking Digimon buzzed in front of him.

And on the opposite side to him was a girl with shirt, crimped brown hair that was in curls. She was clad in a pink jacket and tshirt, complimenting her grey eyes. The final Digimon in the group, a Kiwimon, plodded in front of her, prepared to pounce.

"Stand down Drimogemon, and tell us how you got here." The leader, a young man named Kain ordered, but the Digimon took another step back, making Kain roll his eyes, this Digimon had caused enough havoc as it was, half of London was jammed up and that included the underground because their prey kept drilling holes everywhere. This was getting boring.

"Shall I take him captain?" Sealsdramon asked, prepared to pounce in a second's notice.

"Look Drimogemon, we won't hurt you if you just tell us what we want to know, we want to know how you got there, that's all, then we'll send you back to the digital world." The girl, called Britney said patiently, but Drimogemon shook his head stubbornly.

"I won't go back!" he protested wildly, and the other guy crossed his arms impatiently.

"Look buddy, we have better things to do than run around after escaped Digimon. Tell us what we want to know and we'll put you in any part of the digital world that you choose." He said, but Drimogemon remained adamant.

"You'll never take me! Crusher Bone!" he yelled, flinging his bone at them, but Sealsdramon had already made his move, leaping high into the air.

Kiwimon shot the bone from the sky while Yanmamon sped right at the opponent, eyes narrowed.

"Bug Swarm!" he cried, buzzing around and forcing their opponent to swipe at him, trying to catch the bug, all the while not realising what the true threat was. Sealsdramon then plummeted from the sky, the sun glinting off his armour as he dove for the earth, the daggers incorporated into his armour ready to strike.

"Death Behind!" he cried and plunged the two blades into Drimogemon, who gave a piteous moan and burst into data before reverting into a digi-egg.

Britney sighed irritably as she picked up the egg, while Kain called the success into their main base. This was the twelfth Digimon who had entered the real world in the last few weeks. Somehow the Digimon had managed to open a portal between their world and the human world and now many Digimon were coming through it, desperate to avoid being sent back to the digital world. It wouldn't be so bad, but the portal that had opened was right in a disused underground station, so they immediately went to ground level and caused a panic, and usually managed to bring the city to a standstill in the process.

"Alright team return to base, we need to think about this." Their leader, Commander Anderson ordered, and Kain gave an acknowledgement before watching their partners revert back to their Rookie forms.

"You did good." Kain said proudly to the small blue dinosaur, dressed in combat gear and complete with a rifle, his partner, Commandramon.

"Thanks captain!" the dinosaur said proudly, before taking a defensive formation and training his rifle on the end of the street.

"This is getting ridiculous, we need to know what's going on in the digital world, because all of the Digimon we've fought recently don't want to be sent back, I reckon they're asylum seekers." The other guy on the team, Fredrich said, the tiny German inflections in his voice just noticeable as Dokunemon slithered up onto his shoulder, the little green caterpillar sitting there contentedly.

"But none of them are telling us what they're hiding from, what could be so bad that they want to abandon their world?" Britney asked as Penguinmon, a small blue penguin like Digimon waddled up to her.

"I don't know, before they were just winding up here by accident. Maybe it's just the destruction of El Dradimon that's making people so nervous but I don't know, I've never known Digimon to run from a fight before." Penguinmon said, looking up at her partner curiously.

"Alright, let's head back to base, send Drimogemon home and then we can figure out what the hell's making them want to leave in the first place. Commandramon, front and centre." Kain said, and the little dinosaur took point position and led them back to the base.

XX

Commander Heath Anderson was in charge of DATS Europe. Formerly, it had been based in Austria after being set up by Thomas Norstein, however, their headquarters had been destroyed by an attack by Magnamon when the Royal Knights had attacked. Moving to London, unlike DATS Asia, commanded overall by General Yoshima and Commander Sampson, their Digimon had largely not gone back to the digital world. While some of their agents had allowed their Digimon to go home, breaking their hearts in the process, with DATS America mostly destroyed by Dynasmon and their partners returned to digi-eggs, DATS Europe had taken over duties for America and Europe, while supporting the smaller offices in Asia and South America. This meant that they needed a larger force in order to keep the peace between the worlds.

And at first it had been fine. They had peace, and they were starting to get used to not having to battle Digimon every day. Until a month or two ago when Digimon had started coming through a portal that to their great surprise had opened in the underground not far from their base and once again they were pushed into the forefront of the battle. Another portal had opened in Norway and another had opened in Indiana in America, and two days ago another one had opened in Oregon as well. As a result most of DATS was spread out, and the reports were all the same. Digimon were flooding into the real world, all of them fearing something going on back in the digital world.

Anderson cursed as he stood, looking out at the MI6 building over the river. This wasn't going well at all. More and more Digimon were entering the real world and they were finding it harder and harder to keep quiet. Of course, ones like Drimogemon didn't help, but the people would panic if they saw the Digimon again after all they had been trying to destroy the earth last time they had appeared in force. Something was going on in the digital world and he didn't like it one little bit. What could be scaring the Digimon enough that they were abandoning their homes left right and centre? And more importantly, how were digital gates opening across the world when the end of the war ought to have sealed them shut? What was going on that could bring all of this to such a head?

Anderson frowned, stroking his black beard. Something was going on in the digital world. If it was Rookie levels of lower, ones that couldn't defend themselves he could get it, but they'd had Ultimate levels defecting through and it was making him nervous. Something was going on and he was determined to find out what the hell it was, even if it meant going to the digital world itself.

He was a fairly broad man, not with fat he was just built that way. He had a thick head of black hair and a black beard, with a weathered face and brown eyes. Despite his relatively fearsome appearance, he was a kind and compassionate man who valued peace above all else, and he knew better than anyone that peace sometimes necessitated a fight first.

He looked to his desk, where his partner was sitting looking at him searchingly.

"What is it Gomamon?" he asked the small white Digimon, and the little Digimon gave him a fleeting look.

"What are you thinking Heath?" he asked curiously.

Gomamon was a loyal and true companion, he complimented Anderson perfectly. Wise but pragmatic, he was also a great relief in times of stress, often coming out with a well timed sarcastic comment to diffuse the tension.

"I'm thinking something bad is happening in the digital world. Something is making the Digimon scared, so scared that they're willing to risk themselves in our world in order to escape it. Whatever it is can't be good. We've only just recovered from the war with the Royal Knights, we don't need to fight another battle like that. So, I want to stop it before it becomes an issue. I'm not going to wait around for another war to begin, not when we might be able to do something about it. We're going to the digital world." Anderson said, and Gomamon's eyes widened in shock.

"You want to lead the squad to the digital world?" he asked in surprise, but Anderson shook his head.

"No, I want the entire team in the digital world." He said, and Gomamon had to stop his jaw dropping.

"All eight of you?" he asked in surprise, and Anderson nodded grimly.

"Yes Gomamon, all eight of us. Something bad is happening in your world, and it's spilling over here, and we're barely recovered from the last time. Manchester is still a ruin, so is Birmingham, the east side of London is just as bad. We do not need another conflict with the digital world, and I intend to find out what's going on before it becomes one." He said with determination, and Gomamon nodded, though he looked hesitant.

"I agree my friend, but you realise that by taking a large and powerful group into the digital world you could be bringing about the battle you're trying to avoid, whoever's in charge there might see the act as an act of war bringing so many powerful Digimon and human partners into the digital world. Five of us can reach Mega after all, and the triplets reach Ultimate." He warned and Anderson nodded.

"It's a good point and one I've considered. But something makes me think that whatever's making powerful Digimon like Andromon make a run for it can't be good, and I'm hoping the eight of us together will be less of a threat compared to whatever is forcing the exodus. And if nothing else, we need to find out how to close the portals that have opened." He said, and Gomamon sighed.

"You're right I suppose. But I only hope this doesn't come back and kick us in the rear. Alright, I'll rally the troops. But if we're in the digital world, who's stopping more Digimon coming through?" he asked, and Anderson pointed to the computer.

"I emailed Artois, he's willing to take over for a few days while we're away. When you're telling the others, tell the triplets they'll need to calibrate the digital dive. Oh, and seeing as you're at it, you can break the news to Commandramon that he'll need to go into the digivice." He said with a small grin and Gomamon grinned.

"I wish you wouldn't make me give him bad news, not when he's got that blasted gun of his in his hand. For what it's worth though I agree with him, I hate going in the blasted thing too. Right, I'm away to risk life and limb by telling Commandramon he needs to go in the digivice. If I should die, think only this of me: I'll be back to get you." He vowed, leapt off the desk and plodded off, ignoring Anderson's chuckled as he did so.

XX

Anderson entered the command room. Two trenches flanked a middle raised walkway that led to the digital dive, with a screen above it for when crises emerged. His own chair was at the back of the room, flanked by banks of computer terminals were the field agents usually did work, and the three analysts in his team usually sat in the pits beside the walkway, with his second in command usually down there to keep an eye on them, after all, they were triplets and they tended to bicker.

However, today the pits were not filled by the triplets, they were filled by two of Artois' men, one watched closely by a Palmon and the other by an Arurumon as they watched their two partners prepare the digital dive. Artois' head of security was behind him, flanked by Bearmon and Artois himself, a plump moustachioed man had sat down in his chair, with his partner Chuumon sitting on the table beside him.

"You're sure about this Anderson?" Artois asked in his slightly French accent.

"We don't have a choice Rene. Something so bad is happening, or about to happen in the digital world that it's making powerful Digimon, who refused to flee even when Kurata was pursuing active genocide against them, abandon their homes. And it isn't just baby, in-training or Rookie levels, its Champion and Ultimate too, powerful Digimon who ought to be able to defend themselves. Sadly, they all fight rather than talk so we're clueless. But I'm not going to sit back and allow this world to be destroyed again, we haven't recovered from the last time. Paris is still devastated from Magnamon's attack isn't it? Wouldn't you rather stop another invasion before it begins? That involves finding out what's going on in the digital world." He told him, and Rene sighed and nodded.

"Very well, but be careful, my group is now going to have to cover part of the mainland and Britain, and last night we had three Digimon, all Ultimate levels enter the human world, whatever it is its getting worse. You're right, it needs to be stopped. So do what you can mon ami." He said, and Anderson nodded, before turning to his troops.

The entire eight of them were standing just before the start of the bridge that led to the dive. The first in the line was Kain, the leader of his rapid response team. At the age of twenty one, he had joined the army after leaving school, but had been seconded to DATS after he had discovered Commandramon living in his shed. Tall, well built, he was clad in black military fatigues, his sandy blond hair spiked up at the fringe. Commandramon's protests about being placed in the digivice could be heard from the other side of the room.

The second in the team was Fredrich, descended from a German family. A young and attractive man the same age as Kain, he was known widely as a player, flirting with girls, hooking up with them and then throwing them aside. Despite that however, he and his partner Dokunemon had been a solid addition to the team since they had joined it and he had become fast friends with Kain and professed to be teaching Kain how to pull girls. He was clad in a tshirt and leather jacket, looking perfectly at ease.

The third member of the main team was Britney, an attractive girl with curly brown hair. Having formerly been a teaching assistant at a school, she had broken up a Digimon ring within the school and sent the Digimon of bullying students back to the digital world. Hence appointed to DATS with her partner Penguinmon, she found herself playing the mediator between Kain and Fredrich once they got involved in their childish bickering. She was clad in a pink jacket and tshirt, along with a light blue skirt with a slit up the side if she needed to fight.

His second in command, Sergeant Sally Prosser, was next in line. Formerly Kain's drill sergeant, after a user and abuser of Digimon had nearly destroyed the headquarters she had been sent to add a layer of protection to the group, which was fortunate as she had just discovered her Digimon Flamemon in her shed so she had taken him in and was now his partner. Along with the main team and the commander she was the only other who's partner could reach Mega level. Being a soldier she was dressed in military fatigues as well, but she was in grey desert gear rather than Kain's black get up. She had short greying hair despite her fairly young age and was fairly well built, tall and muscular to boot.

The other three were their analysts, the ones who operated the comms, the digital dive and the scanners. Triplets by the names of Callum, Curtis and Cameron McGuire, the three of them were partnered with Digimon, Curtis, the oldest by a minute, with Goblimon, Callum with Shamanmon and the youngest Cameron with SnowGoblimon. Curtis was the most identifiable, he had shoulder length brownish blond hair, a leather jacket and dark green clothes. Callum had black hair, longish and hanging over his face, however unlike Fredrich who made it look cool and who's hair was shorter, Callum looked as though he was hiding something. He was clad in a black trench coat with black clothes. Cameron had short spiky brown hair, and he was clad in a tracksuit for the mission.

And now Anderson was finally ready, he was dressed in a mackintosh coat with a trilby hat. He looked at his assembled team and nodded.

"Ever since the war ended, no human, other than that guy in Japan, has gone to the digital world. It was what was agreed, they would leave us alone and we would leave them alone. No one would cross the border. But that's changed. Digimon are crossing the border, a border that's meant to be closed to all traffic. And remember, these Digimon are the same ones who wouldn't abandoned their world when Kurata was trying his hardest to destroy it. If it was lower level Digimon I could at least understand it, they don't have the capacities to defend themselves. But it isn't. High profile Ultimates are defecting and I don't like it one little bit. Something is happening in the digital world. Our world has barely been rebuilt, much of England is still devastated by the Royal Knight's attack, Wales is worse off than us and considering Scotland had to relocate their capital to Stirling since Edinburgh and Glasgow were both so damaged and don't even get me started on Ireland. Something bad is happening in the digital world and we've come too far and done too much to let something else come along and take it away from us, especially if it could precipitate another war. So, we're going to the digital world. We'll go, we'll find out what's going on and we stop it before it destroys us. You with me?" he asked, and the team nodded.

"Yes sir." Kain said, and Sally nodded.

"Then troops, let's move out, because if we don't get them out soon I'm afraid the Digimon will mutiny." She quipped with a grin and they headed to the digital dive, Anderson saluting Artois as they prepared for transport. And with a final zap a few seconds later they were gone to try and save the world before it needed saving.

XX

The light receded around them, the three of them lying in a pile in a mound of snow. Cursing, her teeth chattering, Yoshi, cursing her undercover attire's thin nature, got to her feet and then glared at a slightly guilt looking Kristy, who had squashed a freezing Thomas into the snow.

"You have a lot of explaining to do Kristy!" Yoshi scolded and Kristy looked up at hr sheepishly, though she was trying hard to be intimidated by the older girl, after all she was only dressed in a tshirt, denim jacket and jeans, as they had been asking around clubs and places such as that for any sign of Keenan and often they would be unwilling to talk to the police.

A muffled noise came from the snow, and Yoshi postponed her telling off of Kristy until she pulled a now freezing, frosty and wet version of Thomas from the snow.

"T-t-took y-y-you l-l-long enough." He griped bitterly, shivering and trying to warm himself up, and Yoshi looked mildly guilty.

"Can you blame me Yoshi? Marcus is my brother and Keenan is my best friend. If Keenan went anywhere he would have come here, which means he would have looked for Falcomon or Marcus, and they're probably both in the same place. I miss Marcus, sad as that is, and I'm worried about Keenan, and I'm not going to stay at home while you two might be able to find them!" Kristy said with determination, and Thomas came in between the two of them, still shivering, before Yoshi could retaliate.

"Yoshi, she's right. She deserves to come with us. Marcus is her brother and Keenan is her boyfriend." He said with a slight smile.

"He is not my boyfriend!" Kristy protested furiously, making the other two grin.

"I'm not saying she shouldn't get answers, we all want them, we're all worried about Keenan and we're all wondering where Marcus is and what he's doing. But she shouldn't be here when she doesn't even have a Digimon to protect her." Yoshi said and Kristy raised an eyebrow.

"What, you've got Lalamon stashed somewhere do you? You don't have a Digimon at the moment either." She snapped and Yoshi rolled her eyes.

"But when we find them, we will have Digimon and you won't." She said patiently, missing the days when Kristy looked up to her without talking back.

"I'll have Biyomon!" Kristy retaliated and Thomas, teeth still chattering, whistled before their fight got any worse.

"Enough! We don't even know where our Digimon are, so it's all a moot point anyway. Look, I'm freezing, and call me selfish but I'd really like to get somewhere warm, so can you two stop arguing with each other for five minutes so we can make some progress? And Kristy, you might be entitled to come, but that doesn't mean that what you did isn't wrong. You should have come. What you did was dangerous to all of us, it could have gotten us all killed by messing up the digital dive. And Yoshi is right, even if you find Biyomon, he technically isn't your Digimon, you don't have a digivice even if he is your friend. Now, can we go?" he asked impatiently, and shuddering, he headed forwards, wishing he had thought to put on a jacket before coming here.

"You noticed," Kristy said hesitantly as Yoshi was still glowering at her in disapproval of her presence here, "that ever since Marcus left Thomas has become more like him?" she asked quietly, she never liked it when Thomas got short with her, she always wanted to impress him, owing to the not so secret crush she'd had on him ever since she had met him and still slightly lingered even to this day.

Yoshi smiled a little.

"Tell him that I dare you. Come on, he's right, we need to move, and we need to get him warm before he freezes." She said and the two girls hurried to catch up with Thomas, who had stopped as he emerged from the shelter of the snow covered pines that were surrounding them.

"Yoshi, is that the Infinite Ice Ridge?" he asked in surprise, and Yoshi looked at him as if he were crazy before she looked at what he was and couldn't deny what she was seeing.

It was the Infinite Ice Ridge, the place where Merukimon had once controlled his large section of the digital world from. A large mountain range, shrouded in ice and snow, the frosty region made the surrounding pine forests permanently cold. This was the region where Keenan had been brought up, an area of glaciers, tundras, hot springs, pine forests and alpines. But the last time they had been here, back when they had fought Merukimon there hadn't been a small city at the foot of the mountain range outside the entrance to Merukimon's lair. Yeah, the city was definitely new.

A sprawling expanse, it wasn't a city by human standards but it was certainly a city, and it was made mostly of ice. Watchtowers of ice were standing lookout, with two larger towers flanking the large gate made of stone. From their vantage point, they could see hundreds of little igloos, which obviously served as houses. Larger buildings, some made of wood, some of ice, some of metal were spread throughout the city, and many different kinds of Digimon were walking through the city, going about their business. Catapults lined the wall, and ballistae were placed on the ground behind the walls as well. Lookout posts climbed the way up the ridge, were yet more catapults and ballistae were, all of them manned. Watchtowers also marked the side of the ridge, and the high promontory that overlooked the city was also manned by various Digimon. The entire city was built in the protective embrace of the mountain, surrounded by a thick and strong wall of ice, well manned against any attack, and from the looks of things the city also cut into the ridge where Merukimon had once laired, which meant the city probably included the vast indoor network as well.

"Someone's done some decorating." Yoshi said in surprise as Thomas nodded, his teeth still chattering.

"A city, out here in the middle of nowhere? Made of ice?" Kristy said in disbelief but before either of them could respond a large thick pole made of wood caught all three of them in the stomach, the impact knocking them off their feet and crashing into a mound of snow.

Thomas spluttered weakly as he recovered from the surprise of the attack, and he looked up to see a fox like Digimon dressed in robes and a hat holding a large staff that looked like a paintbrush, who if he remembered correctly was called Taomon. On either side of Taomon were two blue and white wolfs, not unlike Gaogamon, called Garurumon, both of whom were growling menacingly.

"Intruders!" Taomon exclaimed in distaste, revealing herself to be a female.

"No, we're not intruders, we're just-" Yoshi began but Taomon rapped her staff against the ground, apparently finding a rock as it made a noise.

"Silence! I don't know who you are, but most Digimon here do not take kindly to humans." She sneered, and one of the Garurumon's snapped at them, making Kristy flinch in fear.

"We're not like the humans that attacked your world, we were the ones trying to save it, we fought for the Sacred City!" Yoshi protested and Taomon narrowed her eyes suspiciously.

"Indeed? But the point remains human that you are not meant to be here. So what am I to do with you then? Humans you may be, but you were clearly spying on Glacial City. Spies of the enemy perhaps?" she asked sinisterly, and Thomas shook his head.

"No, we're not spies at all, we're looking for someone." He said and one of the Garurumon growled at him.

"Really? Someone who just happens to be in our city, which we're preparing for war? I doubt it. I say we kill them." He growled, and the other Garurumon nodded eagerly.

"They're spies Taomon, and worse, they're human. None of them are decent." One said, but he was quickly cowed by a glare and a slight smile from Taomon, before she scowled and turned back to her three captives.

"Three little spies, treacherous human spies. Perhaps I should destroy you right here. After all, humans aren't meant to come here anymore. Why are you here? Laying the groundwork for an invasion? Preparing another genocide?" she asked, and Kristy shook her head quickly.

"No, nothing like that, we're here looking for people!" she protested, and Taomon scoffed.

"Your cover story is feeble. However, you are human which means I do not have the authority to deal with you alone, much as I would like to. The general can deal with you." She said with a grim smile, and rapped her staff, trapping her and the three humans within a bubble of light.

"The general? Who's the general?" Kristy asked nervously and Taomon gave her a grim smile.

"The one who will decide what to do with you." She said, and with that the bubble rose into the air, and zoomed towards the ridge.

Yoshi made a terrified noise as they zoomed over the top of the city, afraid of looking down and seeing the height they were travelling at. Thomas however was fascinated. As Kristy shivered and tried not to look scared and Yoshi focused on not throwing up, Thomas looked down at the sprawling city beneath them with interest. It was well defended that was certain, and well populated. Digimon of various levels, shapes and forms were milling about. Steam and smoke rose from the town, showing that despite its youth it was fairly industrial. Troops were manning the wall, people were frequenting the market and it had every sign of a working city. His view was cut off as Taomon entered the cavernous door that had been cut out of the ice, sending Digimon scurrying for cover as she flew through the corridors, past shops and businesses and homes that were cut into the ice. Guard stations were also etched into the wall, usually manned by Dinohyumons. They were deep in the ridge now, Thomas was getting colder, but he was beginning to recognise the area as where Gotsumon had nearly killed them all by causing a cave-in. And then he saw the fortress that had once housed Merukimon and Thomas felt a flash of memory, remembering the last time they had been here.

They had battled Merukimon, only to find the true threat was the one they had brought with them, the threat of Kurata. He had ruthlessly attacked Merukimon with a Gizumon, and by the time they had figured out what was truly going on, Kurata well and truly had the upper hand. Falcomon digivolving to Crowmon had helped and they had destroyed Gizumon, but not before Merukimon had been lost. The loss of Merukimon had obviously destabilised the entire area and had made it that much easier for Kurata to try and wipe out the Digimon. Thomas clenched his fist in fury at the memory.

Taomon swept them up a flight of ice stairs, but rather than head to the throne room, which had been largely destroyed by their battles, she turned left, heading up another flight of stairs. Thomas immediately felt it become slightly warmer as she brought them up there, zooming down the corridor marked with rooms, complete with wooden doors. They came to a stop at the end of the corridor, Taomon settling down and bursting the bubble before knocking on a wooden door that was twice her size. The door opened and they entered a much warmer room, the high parts of the walls were still made of ice but the part at their level was covered in wood, making the room much warmer than anywhere else they had been so far. Thomas sighed in relief as he saw a blazing fire in the hearth and resisted the urge to get closer to it until they found out what was going on.

Taomon approached the desk at the door, at which sat a little white cat Digimon, who was purring to herself contentedly. Thomas, Yoshi and Kristy edged forwards as Taomon stopped and glared down at the little cat imperiously.

"We need to see the general." Taomon said and the cat barely spared her a glance before replying.

"He's busy, he's in a meeting." She said coyly and Taomon rolled her eyes and bent down to the table, glaring at the little cat.

"Look Gatomon, just because you are the general's favourite little pet and spend your nights curled up at his feet, do not assume that you are any more important than the rest of us. The Cadre are his closest advisers, and behind that, myself and WereGarurumon are his most loyal servants, do not be distracted by inflated views of your own importance." She hissed and Gatomon smiled up at her mockingly.

"I'm his spymaster, and without me, WereGarurumon and the Cadre couldn't very well do their jobs could they? And the fact that I spent my nights on his bed are no business of yours. Not my fault you're too big to do the same thing. You're just jealous." She purred haughtily, and Taomon seethed.

"He entertains you for various reasons, but do not assume you are more important to him than me. I'm his grand vizier, his closest adviser, his spiritual aide, his healer, and the one who cleans up after him." She said, forcing her voice back into one of calm.

"Yet you aren't in the meeting where they are discussing a coming conflict?" Gatomon asked, and Taomon smiled.

"Neither are you." She said with maddening superiority.

"And you know the reason for that, should I be captured while on a mission, you know that thing when we go out and advance our side's aims, the thing you never do, I could be tortured into giving up information I'd rather not. I find it all out later anyway. After all, I am the general's favourite." Gatomon retaliated cattily and Taomon chuckled.

"And we both know that isn't true, he prefers the Cadre over you. Now, announce me you flea bitten little runt." She commanded, and with a hiss, Gatomon opened the door.

"They like one another." Yoshi remarked, glad it was warmer in here and they followed Taomon inside as Gatomon leapt down from the table and trotted in with them on all fours.

"We need to hold the rail line as long as possible, otherwise we won't be able to get supplies from the other kingdoms." A deep, guttural voice which Thomas assumed to be WereGarurumon said.

"But if Marsmon strikes, his first act will be to cut us off from the other kingdoms." A familiar voice said, and Thomas realised with a flash that it was Gotsumon, Merukimon's former henchman and a reluctant ally of theirs.

Yoshi looked at Thomas in worry. If Gotsumon was here, there were no guarantees that this general would take their side. Kristy edged a little closer to the two of them as Taomon led them up the steps, Gatomon beside her.

"General, we have visitors." Gatomon said with a slight smile as Taomon chuckled, leaving the other three feeling very wrong footed.

And then Taomon moved to reveal a round table, and the three 'captives' jaws dropped. At the table were the two PawnChessmon, the white one and the black one, and they looked at them in surprise. Kudamon favoured them with a delighted smile as he sat up to take notice of them. But as soon as Taomon had moved to the side, Thomas, Yoshi and Kristy had been looking for their own Digimon. WereGarurumon, a large blue wolf walking on two legs chuckled and moved out of the way, and with that Thomas and Yoshi ran forward as Lalamon, crying with joy, and Gaomon, grinning, leapt from their seats into the waiting arms of their partners.

"Yoshi!" Lalamon cried excitedly as Yoshi hugged her fiercely.

"Thomas!" Gaomon said in delight, holding out a hand, but Thomas waved it away and wrapped him in a hug, both of them laughing as the girls cried.

Kristy's face was crestfallen as she saw no sign of Biyomon, but her face transformed into a grin as she beheld the one who had been in the middle of the table. Dressed in the same clothes, the same black tshirt and red fighting hoody he had been wearing the day he had left for the digital world, he was now also wrapped in a black cloak, thick and furry, with a ring of white fur around the top that covered his shoulders. His arms still had his armbands wrapped around them, and several more had been added since the last time she had seen them. His brown hair was just as thick and long as it had always been, hanging to just above his shoulders, still with a small ponytail at the back. And he had a big grin on his face as he beheld his friends and little sister and vaulted over the table and wrapped his sister in an ecstatic hug.

"Kristy!" he said in surprise, hugging her fiercely and she hugged her brother back in delight.

"Marcus, oh I've missed you." She said softly, trying to blink the tears from her eyes as she held her brother tightly and he picked her up, laughing.

Thomas then broke apart from a delighted Gaomon and stood to grin at Marcus as he put his sister down, and they stood there for a few seconds just staring at each other before both of them faltered and their faces broke into a wide smile.

"Hello Marcus." Thomas said happily, and Marcus grinned.

"Hey Nerdstein." He said, and then, abandoning all pretence the two young men wrapped each other in a delighted hug.

"Budge over Thomas. Hey Marcus!" Yoshi said in warm delight and she too wrapped him in a hug, kissing his cheek in greeting as he wrapped her in a hug that took her off her feet.

"What are you guys doing here?" Marcus demanded in delight as the Digimon crowded around them.

"It's a long story, where's Agumon?" Thomas asked as the aforementioned Digimon entered the room wiuth a tray of cakes in hand.

"Guys!" he said in excitement as he set the tray down, bounding over to join them and allowing Kristy to wrap him in a hug.

"I can see you're occupied general, we shall leave you to it." Taomon said and Yoshi looked at her in irritation.

"Wait, you knew who we were all along?" she demanded and the Ultimate level grinned slightly.

"Yes. You must allow us Digimon our fun. Come WereGarurumon. Come on you flea bitten scavenger." Taomon commanded, prodding Gatomon up the behind with her staff, making the cat hiss as the three traipsed out, leaving just the DATS team.

Marcus grinned and vaulted back into his chair once again, gesturing them to sit as the other two's Digimon refused to be parted from their side, insisting they take their chairs.

"So what are you doing here, what have you been doing the last five years? I've missed you guys. Where's Keenan? Kristy, how are mom and dad? What are you doing now, come on tell me!" Marcus wheedled and the others grinned as they sat down.

"Alright calm down Marcus, give us a chance." Yoshi said and Gaomon smiled.

"I told you we would meet again sir." He said to Thomas who smiled.

"Yeah, you did. It's great to see you Gaomon." He responded, and Kudamon, sitting on Agumon's head, gave him his own little smile.

"It's good to see all three of you, it's been far too long, and I've been stuck here with only Marcus to talk to." He lamented and Marcus glared at him.

"Hey!" he protested and the Digimon laughed.

"Marcus, isn't Biyomon with you? Kristy asked sadly and Marcus grinned at his sister.

"Yeah he is but he's out on a mission at the moment, he'll be back later. Now, get talking!" he wheedled and they proceeded to inform him of all that had happened in the last five years: Thomas winning the Nobel Prize and curing Relena, Yoshi joining the police and working with Miki, Megumi and Sampson, Yoshima retiring, Kristy and Keenan going to school together (prompting Marcus to ask if she was his girlfriend to her great disgust), explaining what had happened after he had left, what was going in sports and with his favourite tv shows, about his parents and various other concerns, though they hadn't gotten to what they were actually doing here yet..

"And what have you been doing Marcus?" Yoshi asked, who after a slight nod from Thomas decided to wait to tell him about Keenan, and she sent Kristy a warning glance before she gave the game away.

Between Marcus, Agumon, Gaomon and Kudamon they had soon explained what Marcus had been doing since they had last seen him five years ago. Upon arriving in the digital world, Marcus, who'd had a fairly certain idea of what to do for a change, had decided that the area around the infinite ice ridge and hence Merukimon's old home was most in need of help. As predicted he had found the place in chaos. Digimon had been running scared and others were forming into groups and gangs for protection. Scared, the few Digimon that hadn't wanted to join any gang had drifted to where Merukimon had once held court, and it was there that Marcus had moved in to. Finding the DATS group with Marcus as their nominal leader (with reservations in the cases of Kudamon and Gaomon), a few Digimon had started drifting towards him, giving him a tiny force of around thirty Digimon that looked to him for protection.

It was then that they had met WereGarurumon. The large wolf like Digimon had had much the same thought as Marcus. He too knew the Digimon that lived in the area and in the surrounding regions, the ones controlled by SaberLeomon and Merukimon were now leaderless and confused. As a result, WereGarurumon had gathered a substantial force, much larger than Marcus', and upon hearing that a human was in the digital world and was apparently acting as a leader for a group of Digimon he had been furious and had mustered his force to crush Marcus. However, after going one on one with Marcus, he had been impressed that Marcus had been able to defeat him and as such had pledged his loyalty to Marcus and it was then that it had truly began.

With WereGarurumon's help, Marcus had started building an empire. Establishing control over the remains of Merukimon's territory, Marcus and Agumon had battled the other gang leaders, and once beaten they had happily agreed to join forces with Marcus. With the various Digimon who lived within the area of the infinite ice ridge, Marcus began to build a city, which the Digimon had decided to call Glacial City, at the foot of the ridge. Small territories, such as the area that had been led by Taomon, had started to appeal to join Marcus, the size of Marcus territory expanding every day. The city had continued to be develop, local powers came to respect Marcus and his power, and the Digimon under him started to truly view him and the DATS group as their leaders. However, despite the progress Marcus had made, it had soon become apparent that unification couldn't only be achieved with fighting. At Taomon and Kudamon's urging, they had started to develop friendships with the surrounding areas, giving Marcus and the Digimon under him a wealth of friends to call upon.

Friendly relations had been set up with many Digimon in the surrounding area. Their closest relationship was with Dianamon. A member of the Olympus Twelve, she respected Marcus and his actions and admired him for, despite being a human, uniting so many Digimon into one cohesive group and making himself one of the strongest forces in this area of the digital world. She had been impressed that he had managed to convince so many small territories to come under his banner and had hence pledged her friendship to him. The Royal Knights had also extended their hand of friendship, coming in the form of Craniamon. With Dianamon and Craniamon as his official friends, the ones who would help him come what may, he also had local trading partners and reluctant allies. Neptunmon and Marcus had a cordial relationship, as was the same with Cherrymon and ClavisAngemon, all of whom controlled local areas. While not pledged to each other's defence they were still good allies, though they would not get involved in each other's military conflicts. Venusmon had her ever present offer to become a much closer ally but that involved Marcus getting to know her all too intimately and he had so far refused (Thomas, Yoshi and Kristy had killed themselves laughing while Marcus, blushing furiously, had told them of Venusmon's attraction to him, despite Kudamon assuring them that she fancied anyone who stood still for more than five minutes).

But while he had allies, he'd also attracted enemies. Apollomon and Marsmon, other members of the Olympus Twelve had resented Marcus as soon as they had heard about him. After Gatomon had joined Marcus after he had saved her and her siblings from a basket that was being floated down river, she had told him that Apollomon was preparing to launch an attack on the real world in retribution for the deaths of so many Digimon during the war. Marcus, determined to save the real world before things got worse had rallied an army and had summoned Dianamon to lend a hand. While she had been furious that she'd been forced to battle her brother, she had agreed that he had left them with no choice. Once Marcus and ShineGreymon had destroyed him, that had been the end of it, though Marsmon had vowed vengeance.

A vengeance he was now close to exacting.

"So, you control this massive orange section?" Kristy asked as they had moved into Marcus' own room, which were a wooden panelled room with a blazing fire in the hearth, making it very warm and cosy, and as such Marcus stripped off his furs and slumped onto the bed, looking at the large map his sister was pointing to on the wall.

"Yeah, the yellow one to the south east is ClavisAngemon." He explained.

ClavisAngemon led the largest area that was not controlled by either Marcus or one of the remaining members of the Olympus Twelve. An angelic Digimon, he had stayed out of the various conflicts that had marred all the other regions bar that of Venusmon, and as a result he was seen as impartial, wise, fair and just. A good friend of Marcus he nonetheless did what was best for his people, keeping the out of conflicts and refusing to help in any war between Marcus, Marsmon or any other member of the Olympus Twelve.

The pink area on the coast obviously belonged to Venusmon, who despite wanting to get to know Marcus better in her own loving fashion, had no interest in any form of war and as such was determined to sit any conflict out. However she had made it clear that Marcus was more than welcome to share her kingdom if he was willing to share something with her but he had steadfastly refused.

The deep blue area that covered the large sea that split this continent from that of Neptunmon, and he maintained a friendly isolation but had no desire to get involved in many of the events of any of the lands that were above his own ocean kingdom.

The rest of the continent opposite the one they were on was commanded by the Royal Knights, and split into equal kingdoms for each of them, and that area was marked in a deep green.

The rest of their own continent was split between several other states. There was a large purple area that was bordering Venusmon's and their own, the lands controlled by Dianamon. There was a narrow band of grey states, Dianamon's official allies who nominated her to lead them in various matters but were their own regions in their own rights. A final half ring of brown states surrounded those states, they were also individual states but were wealthy, hard to reach, vital traders or had elite armies that made cajoling them or trying to tame them difficult, the most prominent of which was led by Piedmon, a wily jester who used tricks and manipulations to keep him and his wealthy allies uninvolved except for trade.

And the final area, which covered just half of the map, was in red and belonged to Marsmon. Controlling a vast territory, after Marcus had defeated Apollomon, Marsmon had taken over all of his brother's territory so much so that it now bordered the feudal states. While he was split from Marcus' territory by either the sea or other states, he was still determined to crush Marcus and wouldn't stop until he had.

"So if Marsmon is so far away, why's he so concerned with you?" Kristy asking, sitting down on the fairly bouncy bed and Marcus groaned and leaned back while Thomas and Yoshi looked at the map in fascination.

"He hates me. I'm a human, I control a significant portion of the digital world, I've made allies out of his brother and sisters, and I killed his other brother. He's also like me, a lot like me, and me destroying his brother really pissed him off, he wants my head on a stick." Marcus explained wearily as Agumon sipped the tea Kamemon served (good to know some things never changed).

"You just make friends wherever you go don't you?" Yoshi asked with a smile and Marcus glared at her.

"This isn't my fault. But come on, you still haven't told me why you're really here. I doubt the commander would send you just to see if the dive worked." He said, leaning back in his pillows and Thomas frowned.

"We're here to look for Keenan." He admitted, and Marcus bolted upright, green eyes narrowed angrily.

"If you're here looking for Keenan, that means he's missing and you're only telling me now?" he demanded angrily and Kristy took a hold of his wrist and looked up at him pleadingly.

"We didn't want to tell you in there, we just wanted to catch up, find out what you had been doing," she began but broke off at a glare from her older brother.

"So you don't tell me that your best friend is missing? Yeah, you're a real help." He snapped angrily and she flinched.

"Boss." Agumon said reproachfully as Marcus got off the bed and Marcus sighed.

"Sorry sis. I just don't get why you guys didn't tell me as soon as you got here that Keenan was missing." He said with a scowl and Kudamon looked at him worriedly.

"You're afraid Marsmon might have some idea of where he is?" he asked cautiously and Marcus scowled.

"I'm worried Marsmon might have Keenan." He said, picking up his cloak and putting it back on before heading to the door angrily.

"Marcus look, I know we should have told you but..." Thomas began but broke off at a glare from Marcus.

"I expect they didn't want you rushing off and doing anything rash Marcus." Gaomon said reprovingly and Agumon and Marcus glared at him.

"What, like not telling me Keenan was missing is right at the top of the to do list?" he asked pointedly and Yoshi sighed.

"We're sorry Marcus. It's just we got caught up in it all, seeing you again, finding out about everything that's happened and Kristy coming with us when she wasn't mean to, we didn't mean to make you worried, we weren't keeping it from you on purpose." She explained and he glowered at her.

"We understand Yoshi." Lalamon said kindly, and Marcus beckoned them out with an irritable jerk of his head, whistling as he did so, and Taomon appeared from nowhere, the very picture of dignity.

"Taomon, summon Biyomon and Falcomon back here. And get rooms prepared for this three and get them some furs before they freeze to death." He ordered, tucking hi hair behind his ear as he swept along the corridor.

"We didn't want to worry you!" Kristy protested and Marcus grinned slightly.

"Yeah, good job with that. Gatomon!" he yelled and the cute little cat appeared a second later, purring at his ankles.

"You called general?" she mewed affectionately, purring.

"Get your agents to Stormhammer." He ordered and she went pale, her ears flattening as she looked up at him as if he were mad.

"You want me to send my agents to Marsmon's stronghold? Are you crazy?" she demanded breathlessly and he knelt down so he was closer to her eyelevel.

"Gatomon, you and I both know there's stuff there he doesn't want us to know about. He's got far too much energy in that fortress of his, and he's up to something. And I want to know one thing in particular, I want to know if he's been in the human world recently. A friend of mine has disappeared from the human world, and Marsmon will know full well that Keenan will be a sure fire way to get to me, which is what we wants. So, we need to find out if he has Keenan before we go any further, and your agents can find out for me. Got it?" he asked and she nodded.

"Yeah, and should I get Mikemon to investigate the hangar while we're there?" she asked and he nodded.

"Yeah, I want to know what's in there that he's so determined to hide from everyone, including his own siblings." He ordered and she gave a slight bow and trotted off.

"Wow, he's like a real general." Yoshi whispered in an undertone to Thomas who nodded, impressed with his friend as he swept along the corridor, Kristy and the other DATS Digimon but theirs nervously following his lead.

"You may not think it sir, and I know you often don't but he is good at this. He's still reckless but he really has grown up and learned a lot. He's been great, and I've been proud to fight alongside him." Gaomon explained, and Lalamon nodded.

"And he really has missed you guys too, just like we have." She said and the two of them smiled as they followed Marcus and the others into a large cavern like room made entirely of ice, and Thomas whistled, impressed, this was clearly a command room.

A large dias was in the middle, a map of the entire continent marked upon it, with various models denoting where things were. Screens surrounded them, all showing different areas or troop movements.

"Cool." Thomas said, shivering once again as he entered the icy room.

"Thanks." Marcus said with a grin and frowned as he joined WereGarurumon.

"Sir." The wolf said, nodding in greeting to the others as well as Marcus pulled his furs around him, frowning.

"Marcus, what makes you think Marsmon might have Keenan? He hasn't been to the human world." Thomas said, but Marcus shook his head.

"I'm not so sure. Marsmon's hiding a lot in that fortress of his, and he has a massive hangar that's bound to have something no good in it. And besides, Apollomon has to have had a way that he planned to get into our world, but we couldn't find anything when we defeated him, so I'm assuming Marsmon has Apollomon's way in all to himself now." He said, frowning as he looked at the map and the intimidating half of the continent covered in red, and Thomas had to admit that if the model that was marked as Stormhammer was any indication of what the place actually looked like, he didn't want to come against it any time soon.

"So you think Marsmon got into our world and took Keenan?" Yoshi asked in disbelief, believing it to be something of a stretch, but the white PawnChessmon nodded silently, musing on the possibility.

"Boss, what do we do if Gatomon finds he does have Keenan?" Agumon asked and Marcus narrowed his eyes as he glared at the model of Marsmon.

"We give him the war he so clearly wants." He snarled in such a way that Thomas shivered, and not due to the cold.

"Marcus, you're scaring me." Kristy said, realising something had changed in her brother, she knew he was very protective of her and Keenan but threatening war for Keenan was something else.

WereGarurumon arced an eyebrow at her.

"Oh, so if Marsmon does have the kid you'd rather leave him there?" he asked and Kristy shook her head.

"Of course not, but war..."

"Kristy, you don't understand. If Marsmon has Keenan then it is an act of war, he will be trying to goad Marcus into attacking him. Marsmon has wanted a war for years and we've ignored him." Agumon explained.

"And if he's taken Keenan, he's crossed the final line." Marcus snarled and Kristy nodded, but then noticed her brother looking at her curiously.

"What?" she asked slightly defensively.

"How did you wind up here? Mom would never let you come, and neither would the commander, you don't have an official Digimon." He said and Yoshi scowled.

"She jumped into the dive with us." She harrumphed as she came to stand beside the map, and Marcus looked at Kristy, who scuffed her feet to avoid his gaze, and he burst into laughter.

"Way to set an example to your younger sister Marcus." Thomas admonished as Marcus looked at his sister, shaking his head in disbelief.

"That's even crazier than some of the stuff I've done, and that's saying a lot! Even I wasn't that brain dead." He told her and she grinned.

"Well my teacher wasn't very bright so I had to do something incredibly stupid to outdo him." She retorted and he grinned.

"And I wouldn't say you didn't do anything that brain dead, that's being a bit too generous." Yoshi said with a slight smile, making WereGarurumon chuckle, but he quickly broke off as Marcus scowled at him.

"Marcus!" Gotsumon yelled as he bounded into the command room, distracting Marcus from glaring at his general.

"What do you want Gotsumon?" Agumon asked untrustingly, like with Gatomon, he had an intense rivalry with Gotsumon as well.

"General, we've just had a signal from Snowpoint! Zudomon has entered our territory!" he explained and the entire room went still as they looked to Marcus.

"With an army?" he asked, but Gotsumon shook his head.

"No, just a raiding party." He explained and Marcus seethed as Gaomon pointed to the panel that displayed Snowpoint.

A small town near the border to Dianamon's kingdom, Snowpoint was the westernmost town under Marcus' control. A lookout for any problems, it was joined to other towns and kingdoms by the vast Trailmon network. Problem was if Zudomon had entered with a raiding party, he had used the Trailmon network again, which meant he had waltzed right through the monetary and the nominal states and Dianamon's on his way here.

"Who's Zudomon?" Kristy asked.

"He's Marsmon's main general, like I am to Marcus. If he's raiding this far in he must be after something. And he must have come through the nominal states and Dianamon's territory." WereGarurumon said, and Lalamon nodded.

"He's right, why has he come Gotsumon?" she asked and Gotsumon looked at them worriedly.

"He's chasing humans." He said and Taomon, who had appeared out of thin air making Thomas leap in fright in the process, looked at Marcus worriedly.

"Humans? Did the commander and the others follow you?" Marcus asked, but Yoshi shook her head.

"No, but we should report in with them though." She said and moved out of the way to activate the link with home.

"Boss, if Marsmon finds out more humans were in his territory..." Agumon said nervously, and Marcus nodded.

"Yeah, it will mean war regardless. How many of them are there Gotsumon?" he asked.

"Eight apparently general, should I send forces to intercept?" he asked and Marcus grinned excitedly, the same grin he always got before a fight.

"No, I've been stuck here too long as it is anyway. You pair coming?" he asked Thomas and Yoshi as she rejoined them.

"Thought you would never get around to asking." Yoshi said happily, grinning at the thought of once more going into battle with her friends and Digimon.

"Yoshi!" Lalamon said excitedly, making her partner smile.

"You're not going anywhere without me either." Thomas added fiercely, and Gaomon grinned.

"Finally, we can take the fight to them again, Marcus wouldn't let us fight since we couldn't digivolve." He explained, and Thomas looked at him in surprise, and his best friend shrugged.

"No big deal, I just figured you would blame me if something happened to your Digimon." He said defensively, and Thomas smiled.

"Either way, thank you."

"I'll assemble a force and meet you at the gates general." WereGarurumon said and stomped off.

"Can I come?" Kristy asked hopefully, but the looks on Thomas and Yoshi's face were enough to make her suspect, and the look on Marcus' face confirmed she wasn't going anywhere.

"How can you, you don't have a proper Digimon and Biyomon isn't even back yet. You're staying here sis. Taomon can look after you until we get back." He said, and his adviser nodded humbly, accepting the job.

"But I can help!" she protested, but Marcus shook his head.

"You're not even meant to be here, and you don't have a proper Digimon. Stay here Kristy, I mean it, it's too dangerous." Marcus said, then turned to Agumon, who was barely containing his excitement.

"Ready partner?" he asked with a grin and Agumon nodded.

"It's fighting time again!"

"The Ultimate Team back in action." Yoshi said with approval, making Lalamon smile.

"Alright, but be careful. I'll stay here and behave..." Kristy muttered mutinously, and Marcus ruffled her hair fondly.

"Thanks sis."

"Doof." She cursed him, but smiled as she did so.

Marcus turned to Thomas and Yoshi, who grinned at each other, their blue and pink DNA charges springing to life for the first time in five years, both of them grinning in delight as they felt the power moving through them again.

"DNA charge!" they cried in unison, and the two Digimon made noises of delight (most unbecomingly for Gaomon) as they began to digivolve once again.

"Gaomon digivolve to...Gaogamon!"

"Lalamon digivolve to...Sunflowmon!"

Thomas leapt onto Gaogamon, accepting the fur Taomon passed him and wrapping it around himself, while Yoshi did the same with hers, before taking hold of Sunflowmon's waist. Thomas then pulled Marcus up onto Gaogamon and with that the three of them hurtled from the command room, bound for Zudomon's raiders and the eight mysterious humans he was chasing.

Kristy sighed as Taomon, chuckling slightly at the look on her face, wrapped her in a smaller fur akin to Yoshi's silvery grey one as she watched her brother and his friends hurtle out to battle. She frowned as they did so, fearful for her brother, for her friends and for Keenan. She hadn't seen Marcus in five years, and now she suddenly had him back, and that was great, it really was. But he was still treating her like a little kid. He had grown in the past five years, she could see that. He was taller, brawnier, smarter, she was sure she had heard Yoshi mutter that he had gotten sexier, and he'd become a popular and strategic leader who had unified many disparate Digimon into what was effectively an empire, he had become a warlord and she could see from the way the Digimon all looked at him that they respected him and liked him.

But she had grown up too, which he would know if he hadn't upped and left for five years with hardly a goodbye. And after five years, he still thought he could boss her around, but she wasn't the same girl she had abandoned, she was grown up, she'd learnt to rely on herself without her brother around to protect her, but he was treating her like she was still a kid.

"Doof." She growled, and then felt someone pulling at her ankle, and she looked down to see a red and blue rabbit like Digimon, holding a box.

"I'm Elecmon. You might want what's in this box." He said, giving it to her.

Kristy was so taken aback by the appearance of the small Digimon that it took her a few seconds to get her brain into gear, and by the time she had, the little Digimon had vanished, and it appeared as if Taomon, who was ordering the guards to double their patrols while dictating a message to send to Dianamon, hadn't noticed the odd little Digimon either. Shrugging, Kristy decided there could be no harm in opening the box, and when she did her face broke into a grin. It was small, long and thin, yellow and white.

It was a digivice.

XX

"All things present and correct my lord!" one of his Apemon said as they sat in the front of the war room of Stormhammer.

"Excellent. Prepare the test." Marsmon said, sitting on his throne in the centre of the room, his fingers steepled in front of his large tusks.

The room was a hive of activity. His two Apemon, his operators, sat in front of the window overlooking the marshalling ground, and they were preparing to activate the first test, knowing their lives and the lives of others depended upon their success. On the right hand side of Marsmon, on ground level as his throne was at the top of a small set of raised steps, was Zudomon's chair, which due to his leading general's absence was today occupied by Gaiomon, his assassin. As a result, his usual place to the lower left of Marsmon was filled by SkullSatamon, one of his many marshals. Diagonally behind Marsmon were two more Digimon. The one on the left was his main scientist, Allomon, another who's life depended upon a successful test. The one to the right was his doctor, the exotic Persiamon, who occasionally shared the bed of her master. And just behind Marsmon, just in his peripheral view, was his security chief Wendigomon, a thick chain around his wrist which was clamped to the neck of their 'honoured' guest like some approximation of a dog collar.

The large doors at the back slid open and Pipismon, his aide and messenger, entered, flapping his wings as he did so, their four actually honoured guests following him as he did so, and their 'honoured' guest's eyes widened in surprise as he saw who two of them were.

The entire room was silent as the Apemon worked, preparing the test. Their target, the digi-egg outside in the yard was aligned. It had been decided that sending an egg would be the best test for a dry run before they moved on to living subjects. Besides, they had stolen it in a raid and they didn't want any children in Stormhammer.

"Ready to go my lord." Apemon reported, and Marsmon nodded.

"Commence test." He ordered, sitting back, knowing his plans could very well be derailed in this very moment and in front of his guests, one of whom he actually needed to get on side, and the other three he would certainly appreciate having on side. Everything rested on this moment.

"Coming online now my lord, test initialising, digi-egg stable!" the other Apemon reported, and he nodded slightly, encouraging them to continue.

And then were was a flash of lightning outside, and the digi-egg they were running the test on vanished in a crackling cloud, leaving only a black mark on the ground far below.

"Well?" Marsmon asked, and Allomon smiled, exhaling in relief as he did so.

"Complete success my lord, the test was a complete success." He reported and Marsmon nodded, smiling.

"Excellent. You may start infiltrating my troops." He said, getting to his feet.

He then turned to face his guests and immediately looked at the one he considered an equal.

"I believe Marsmon, we have much to discuss." The dragon said, nodding to him respectfully, and Marsmon nodded.

"Indeed we do. Pipismon, take him to my chambers and send us some ale and meat, we have things to discuss." Marsmon ordered.

"Yes my lord." His messenger said, saluting with his wing and led the dragon from the command room.

Marsmon then turned to their other guests, who had been plucked unceremoniously from what they had been doing to be here, though with more ceremony than their other guest. But, seeing the excited, anticipating smile on the face of the leader, he knew it didn't matter. The other two's faces were slightly harder to read, one was looking at him with cautious interest, the other with sheer awe. Whatever got him through the day.

"As you can see I have the capacity to launch the attack we all so desire." Marsmon said, and the leader nodded.

"Yeah, and your winged monkey explained your plan, who you're after. We're in." The leader said, to the enthusiastic nod of the youngest one and the cautious nod of the other.

"Glad to have you aboard." He said, but the leader interrupted him. Resisting the urge to rip his head off (he would be rather handy in battles to come after all), he looked at him expectantly.

"You and I have a problem. We want the same person." He said, and Marsmon nodded.

"I am aware of this. So I'll make you a deal. You encounter him anywhere but my stronghold and the human world, he's all yours. Otherwise, he's all mine. Clear?" he asked and the leader nodded.

"Crystal." He said with a cold grin, making the others grin too.

"Excellent. Oh, if you would be so kind to assume a stronger form, especially since you have the ability, I would appreciate it. Your rooms are more than adequately sized." He said, and they nodded, bowing slightly, and Marsmon nodded to Allomon.

"Allomon will take you to your rooms on the way to his lab. We will talk later." He said as the three were led from the room.

"It won't work." His final guest said smugly.

"Silence worm!" Wendigomon snapped, jerking his prisoner with the chain and slamming him into the ground, making the boy curse.

"No, I would hear him speak Wendigomon. Come then Keenan, explain to me why my plan won't work." Marsmon said, crouching down before the boy.

Keenan, rubbing his chin and wincing as the chain cut into his neck, raised his head and glowered at Marsmon. His body was bruised, his neck clamped in the chain, his hands and legs bound by cuffs, his back was killing him due to his stooping, there was congealed blood in his hair and various scratches and bruises covered his body. After he had left home, the sky had opened and he had been beset by Wendigomon, and before he knew what had happened, he was out cold and was waking up in a small, cramped, stone cell. And now he was at the mercy of Marsmon night and day.

"Because Marcus will destroy you. You think those others can help you? He'll crush them, and he'll crush you. He beat King Drasil, you won't stop him. Marcus will destroy you." Keenan hissed in savage pleasure and Marsmon chuckled, gently stroking Keenan's cheek.

"Poor deluded boy...Marcus has no chance against me. My army will be raised, your world will burn in fire, and I will have my revenge. And even your vaunted and precious Marcus will not stop me." He assured the boy, and Keenan glared at him.

"He will. He will destroy you, you won't stop him." Keenan goaded him with savage pleasure, and Marsmon chuckled darkly.

"Oh but I will child. You know, I often wondered why my brother Merukimon kept you around. He always did have strange taste...like when he bought that water bed, never understood that either. But be thankful child that I was fond of my dearly departed brother, that, and your bond with my enemy, is the only reason you are still alive. Those humans may have told you otherwise, but the war was all down to you. And I will punish you for it. But that comes later."

Keenan, eyes narrowed, shook his head.

"It won't work. Marcus..." he began but Marsmon placed a finger on the boy's mouth, shutting him up.

"Your loyalty to Marcus is admirable. Admirable, but mistaken. I will break Marcus Damon. I will thrash him, I will crush him, I will beat him, and I will break him. And then, in his last few breaths, he can watch as I break everyone he cares about. I will start with that pet lizard of his that eats too much and end with the little brother he adopted but loves as his own. And your breaking will be my final victory. Never fear my little friend. Blood will be shed. And none of it will be mine." He assured him, and got back to his feet, turning away from Keenan, who was shaking in fear for Marcus.

"Marcus..." Keenan whispered, wishing Marcus was here, and then he felt a tug on his chain that slammed him down to the ground, and his eyes widened in fear. That had been an accident. Someone a lot stronger than Wendigomon now held his chain. Keenan looked up in alarm, and saw a maliciously smiling Marsmon holding his chain.

"And boy, if you ever tell me that Marcus will destroy me again, I will break you." He said menacingly, and Keenan gulped and braced himself as Marsmon cracked the chain like a whip, flinging him into the air and crashing him back to the floor.

Keenan screamed, and he could hear Marsmon and the others laugh in awful enjoyment as Marsmon, in control of his chain, slammed him into the floor, into walls and doors as if he were a rag doll, swinging him over his head like a lasso and cracking him like a whip, with Keenan on the receiving end of the brutal onslaught, all the while wishing he had someone anyone to help him.

**Hello again!**

**Sorry for the amount of time this took, Fate of the Force took longer than I thought and dissertation faffing also took longer than expected, but here is the second chapter!**

**On the whole, not a lot happens, the DATS lot was to meet up with Marcus and the Digimon and show the state of the digital world, so that was basically still scene setting but the action begins there enxt time! Oh and scene setting reminds me, another reason why this was delayed was I was drawing a pretty map to accompany the story, if anyone has any idea how I can show you it without using it as the story picture I'd be appreciative. By the way, colouring in is quite therapeutic**

**But, Marcus' group aside, things are moving elsewhere! DATS Europe are on the move, they know something is up and are determined to stop it. They will have more to say next chapter as our two groups of heroes meet up and we see just what DATS Europe is made of. The idea came from the first episode Thomas appears in, the girls say he was in DATS Austria, hence giving birth to DATS Europe if anyone is wondering.**

**And Marsmon does indeed have Keenan in custody. And he is not a pleasant host, except to those he wants on his side. Who is this dragon, who were the other guests? Marsmon is on the move, he has plans and will see them carried out, and he is only going to get nastier as time goes on.**

**Oh and speaking of his plans, the test run is important, just saying.**

**So, sorry again for the longer than anticipated wait, I hope the next one wont take as long, and hope you enjoy because next chapter we really start with the action! So until then please read and review review review!**


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